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About this quote

What does it mean?
Friedman asserts that economic growth benefits poorer populations more significantly than wealthier ones.
In plain terms
Economic progress helps the poor more than the rich.
What can you take from it?
Growth lifts the bottom more than the top.

Where it applies

  • policy analysis
  • development discussions
  • poverty alleviation

Putting it to work

  • evaluate growth policies
  • assess distributional effects

Questions to consider

  • Does growth always help the poor?
  • How do we measure benefit distribution?

Another view

It assumes growth always reaches the poor without leakage.

More from Milton Friedman

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  2. Complete free trade is not politically feasible. Why? Because it's only in the general interest and in no one's special interest. The benefits of a tariff are …

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  3. What would the people who sold us goods do with the money? They'd get dollars. What would they do with the dollars? Eat them?!

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